City boss Pep Guardiola labelled talk of a quadruple as “fantasy” earlier in the week, but after cruising into the League Cup final in midweek, the English champions are in contention for a clean sweep of trophies as they challenge Liverpool in the Premier League and face Schalke in the last 16 of the Champions League.

“It is very difficult when teams like this play the way they do,” said Burnley boss Sean Dyche. “Who is going to stop them winning everything if they are in that mood?”

The defeat left Burnley to concentrate on their bid for survival in the top flight as City stretched their remarkable run of late to 28 goals and none conceded in their last six games.

“Everybody wants to play and you have to play good when they do because the others are at a high level,” said Guardiola.

Gabriel Jesus continued his hot streak with a fine individual run and powerful finish past Nick Pope to open the scoring with his eighth goal in five games.

Burnley wasted a great chance to level when Matej Vydra fired wide with just Ederson to beat and within seconds Bernardo Silva’s deflected effort gave City breathing space.

Kevin de Bruyne’s brilliant free-kick then made it 3-0 and another wicked delivery from the Belgian forced Kevin Long to turn into his own net for the fourth before Sergio Aguero rounded off the scoring from the penalty spot.

– Shrewsbury denied shock –

Wolves knocked out Premier League leaders Liverpool in the last round, but needed a late fightback from 2-0 down to avoid the shock of the day at New Meadow.

“It’s real mixed emotions. I base myself on performances and that was very, very good but I am disappointed not to win the game,” said Shrewsbury manager Sam Ricketts.

Rangers loanee Greg Docherty smashed the third-tier side into the lead just two minutes into the second-half.

Luke Waterfall gave the Shrews a two-goal lead 19 minutes from time with a towering header from a corner.

They needed that cushion as Raul Jimenez came off the bench to give the Wolves a lifeline and Matt Doherty levelled three minutes into stoppage time to save Nuno Espirito Santo’s side.

“Sometimes the games can be like this and require extra effort,” said the Portuguese coach. “They were well organised, they fought and were really competitive.”

One League One side will be in the next round after a late Ben Whiteman penalty earned Doncaster a 2-1 win over Oldham.

Watford edged an all-Premier League tie despite Javi Gracia making 11 changes as Andre Gray and Isaac Success scored in a 2-0 win at Newcastle.

Newport County’s fairytale continues as the League Two side, who beat Leicester in round three, equalised in stoppage time to earn a 1-1 draw at Middlesbrough.

Frank Lampard’s Derby County moved into the last 16 with a hard-fought 1-0 win at League One Accrington Stanley thanks to Martyn Waghorn’s winner 12 minutes from time as both sides ended with 10 men.

Swansea also booked their place in Monday’s draw by easing past Gillingham 4-1.

Two other ties will need a replay to find a winner as Brighton and West Brom played out a 0-0 draw, while QPR’s visit to Portsmouth ended in a 1-1 draw.

The news was announced by an online fund-raising campaign for the operation, and confirmed to AFP by a friend of the Argentine striker’s family.

“The fund-raising appeal launched late Friday afternoon enabled Emiliano Sala’s relatives, via a specialised organisation, to resume research in the Channel early this Saturday morning,” said a statement on the GoFundMe website.

“Two boats are leading the operations.”

Around 2,000 people have so far contributed to the appeal, raising almost 190,000 euros ($217,000).

Maria Jose Sottini, a friend of Sala’s sister Romina, confirmed to AFP that a privately-funded search led by a non-governmental organisation had begun on Saturday.

A light aircraft transporting Sala, who signed for Cardiff City last weekend, vanished from radar around 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of the Channel island of Guernsey on Monday night.

Sala, who moved from French club Nantes for a reported fee of 17 million euros ($19.3 million), was flying from the French city to Cardiff.

Rescue workers formally called off the search for the missing plane on Thursday.

As investigators probe what happened, it emerged that football agent Willie McKay arranged for the flight but did not choose the plane or its pilot.

He published text messages showing how his son Jack — a Cardiff player — offered to Sala to organise the flight at no cost.

“In regards to the booking of the flight, we contacted David Henderson who has flown us and many of our players all over Europe on countless occasions,” said McKay in a statement.

“We had no involvement in selecting a plane or a pilot and wish to make clear we do not own the plane that Emiliano flew on.

“As the text messages show: Emiliano was not asked for payment for the flight.”

McKay’s other son, Mark, was the acting agent for Nantes in Sala’s transfer.

The local coastguard has named the pilot, the only other person in the plane, as David Ibbotson.

Thai legend Thongchai Jaidee will again host the Bt4 million (US$123,000) event staged at his hometown Lop Buri course, where he grew up and learned how to play.

Jointly sanctioned by the ADT and the All Thailand Golf Tour, the event was first held by Thongchai in 2015 with the intention of providing more playing opportunities for the region’s rising stars as well as to draw attention to his charitable foundation.

Countryman Kiradech Aphibarnrat, currently ranked 38th in the world, first lifted the prestigious trophy in 2015 and compatriot Chapchai Nirat, a four-time Asian Tour winner, staged a sensational comeback the following year, when he overcame a four-shot deficit to win by six shots.

Thongchai, a three-time Asian Tour No 1 and an eight-time winner on the European Tour, spoke of his excitement at the return of the event which he hopes will continue to unearth new Thai talent.

“I formed the Thongchai Jaidee Foundation in 2009 to give access to the game of golf to the underprivileged,” said the 13-time Asian Tour winner. “I have achieved so much in my career and I just want to give back to the golfing community.

“Thailand has produced world-class players like Kiradech, who was the Asian Tour No 1 in 2013 and has become the first Thai to earn a full PGA Tour card. I hope sponsors will continue to support events like these and encourage the growth of talent in the region.”

Jakraphong Thongyai, Commissioner of the All Thailand Golf Tour, said: “We are thrilled to sanction this event again with the ADT for our rising talents to improve on their skills. It is great to see accomplished golfers like Thongchai giving back to the game and we hope the event will inspire young people to pick up the sport.”

Methee Sudasna Na Ayudhaya, President of the Thailand Professional Golf Association, also showed his full support for the event, adding: “I am glad to have the return of the Thongchai Jaidee Foundation 2019 on the ADT that will provide more playing opportunities for Thai and international golfers.”

A total of 156 players will feature in the popular event, with 36 invites and the remaining field split between the ADT and the All Thailand Golf Tour.

As part of Thongchai’s efforts to give back to his hometown, a welcome party in which players are being encouraged to wear traditional Thai costume has been organised on February 12 at the Chao Phraya Wichayen Palace.

The leading seven players on the ADT Order of Merit at the end of the season will earn the right to play on the premier Asian Tour next year.

All ADT events offer Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points – the winner will receive six points while the top six players and ties will also earn points based on a sliding scale.

The former world No 14, winner of the 2013 Wimbledon and 2014 French Open women’s doubles, both with Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan, will be among the high-profile players featuring at the True Arena.

As an appetiser before her on-court commitment Peng was taught how to make “Tom Yum Koong” (Spicy Prawn Soup) cooking class with the renowned Amporn Chueng-ngam, who made her name in the TV programme “Iron Chef”.

“I love Thai food. It’s so nice to have a chance to cook some,” said the former world doubles world No 1, who had fellow Chinese players Duan Yingying and Wang Yafan as classmates.

It will be Thailand’s 1st WTA event since the Pattaya Open in 2015. Others in action include two-time Grand Slam champion and world No 18 Garbine Muguruza of Spain, the top seed, plus Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia, the world No 19.

The 25-year-old Muguruza, winner of the French Open in 2016 and Wimbledon  in 2017, arrived in Bangkok on Thursday evening – it is her second time in Thailand after she lost in the first round in Pattaya five years ago to Kimiko Date Krumm of Japan.

The Spaniard, who reached world No 1 in September 2017, hopes to continue her impressive form after reaching the fourth round at the Australian Open, where she lost to Czech Karolina Pliskova 6-3 6-1.

“I am going into this tournament well prepared, like all other tournaments, and I hope to do well,” said the sixth-time WTA winner, who said she was longing to taste a locally made Pad Thai (Thai fried noodles), her favourite dish.

Also committed to play is the 27th-ranked Su-wei Hsieh, the unorthodox Taiwanese who has double-handed groundstrokes on both sides.

The 33-year-old former doubles world No 1 is a leading contender in Hua Hin, where she reached the final in 2017, losing to Belinda Bencic of Switzerland.

Thai No 1 Luksika Kumkhum is the only home player with direct entry into the main draw. The world No 67 needs to regain her form after two first-round exits in her last two tournaments, in Shenzhen and Melbourne.

“Today was a perfect match for me from the first to the last point,” said the Serbian after destroying 28th seed Lucas Pouille 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 in just 83 minutes On Rod Laver Arena.

“I executed everything that I intended to and even more than I have expected,” said the world number one after a flawless display put him into a first Melbourne decider since 2016.

“It is definitely one of the best matches I’ve ever had on this court, definitely,” added Djokovic, who hit 24 winners and had just five unforced errors.

“Every professional athlete wants to be in the zone, where everything flows so effortlessly and you are executing automatically everything you are intending to execute,” Djokovic said, explaining a sublime performance where he conceded no break point.

“You don’t need to think too much. I guess you’re driven by some force that takes over you and you feel divine, you feel like in a different dimension. It’s quite an awesome feeling that we all try to reach and stay in.”

Pouille was left powerless on the other side of the net.

“I was trying to find a solution, but couldn’t find any,” lamented the Frenchman.

Djokovic will face second seed Nadal, who he described as his “biggest rival,” in a 53rd career meeting and eighth in the final of a Slam.

In 2012 the pair contested the longest Grand Slam final in terms of time at the Australian Open when Djokovic edged an epic battle 7-5 in the fifth set after 5hr 53min.

The Serb ran Pouille ragged so effectively that he dished out a dreaded 6-0 “bagel” in a first set that lasted just 21 minutes.

Pouille held his first service game of the second set to a huge ovation from the centre court fans, but it was an all-too brief respite.

– ‘Biggest rival’ –

Djokovic lost in the fourth round last year, followed by elbow surgery and poor form until he won Wimbledon and turned his season around.

“It was highly unlikely 12 months ago that I would be where I am today, a year later,” said the Serbian top seed.

“But I’ve said it before, and I always have plenty of belief in myself, and I think the self-belief is something that always prevails.”

On Thursday Nadal had allowed his young Greek opponent Stefanos Tsitsipas to win just six games on the way to the final in an hour and 46 minutes.

Djokovic made that look pedestrian, allowing Pouille only four games and taking 23 minutes less to set up a repeat of the pair’s epic 2012 showdown.

“He’s my biggest rival in my career. I’ve played so many matches against him, epic matches on this court,” said Djokovic of Nadal.

“Of course, the one that stands out was the final of six hours almost in 2012. Hopefully we don’t go that long this time.”

Nadal holds a 4-3 win-loss record against Djokovic in Grand Slam finals, including all three meetings since their Melbourne Park marathon seven years ago, and both players are chasing milestones on Sunday.

A win for Nadal will see him become the first player in the Open era to win all four Grand Slam titles twice, while victory for Djokovic will take him clear of six-time Melbourne winners Roger Federer and Roy Emerson.